QUANG NAM, Vietnam -- Forty-two years after Billy Casper blasted sand shots into tractor tires on China Beach, golf balls are again being struck along Vietnam’s Central Coast.
The practice facility at Montgomerie Links Vietnam opened with 30 covered hitting bays, a 300-meter-long driving range, a 450-square-meter putting and chipping area, a fully stocked pro shop and a chic café—a far cry from what Casper, the two-time U.S. Open champion, had to work with in 1966, when he and a U.S. combat colonel played to makeshift targets in this region during a morale-building tour of the country.
“Proper golf has been a long time coming here,” said Jon Tomlinson, general manager of Montgomerie Links Vietnam, which is scheduled to open nine of the planned 18 holes for public play on Aug. 1. “From bunker-guarded greens on the range to a creatively imagined short-game area, the facility has everything a player could want in order to get ready for the soft opening.”
The opening is coming soon. Montgomerie Links Vietnam is scheduled to unveil nine of the planned 18 holes for public play on Aug. 1. Designed by eight-time European Tour Order of Merit winner Colin Montgomerie, the course moves boldly over a striking landscape of wispy casuarina pines and sand dunes. Massive greens and rippled fairways are among the layout’s Old World features, while lakes and Paspalum—elements missing from classic links courses—provide a touch of modernity.
To accommodate the equipment needs of golfers, now and into the future, the practice center has been outfitted with a pro shop that rents out or sells all the latest gear from the biggest brands in golf, such as Callaway, Nike, TaylorMade and Titleist.
Next door, a café with floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides offers panoramic views of the range, as well as innovative breakfast and lunch menus. All food items are prepared by Canadian chef Shawn Scott, who honed his skills at Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay (Maryland) and uses only fresh ingredients from the nearby Hoi An waterfront market.
The facility will also include a teaching academy led by certified PGA professionals, capable of training all levels of players through expert one-on-one instruction and video swing analysis techniques. The full program will be implemented by next spring, but components—such as special clinics for groups –are already available.
“Our goal wasn’t just to have the first golf club in Central Vietnam, it was to set a new benchmark for world-class golf in Southeast Asia,” said Peter Ryder, CEO of Indochina Capital, the project’s developer. “With this caliber of practice facility as harbinger, we think it will be that—even before all 18 holes are ready next spring.”
Indochina Capital has committed $45 million to the Montgomerie Links Vietnam project, breaking new leisure ground in the most promising resort region yet developed in Vietnam.
A little over one year ago, another Indochina property, a posh super-resort and spa dubbed The Nam Hai, opened to worldwide acclaim on a site just five kilometers south of Montgomerie Links Vietnam.
The most prestigious hotel groups in the world, including Raffles, Banyan Tree, Kor and Hyatt, are also developing resorts in the region.
In addition to the course and practice facility, the 70-plus-hectare development will include a dramatic 3,000-square-meter clubhouse and 54 three-bedroom villas for sale called The Estates at Montgomerie Links.
The villas will range in size from 276 to 395 square meters on ample lots that range in size from 350 to 700 square meters. All villas feature heated swimming pools, contemporary American-style kitchens and expansive views of the course.
Designed by Gravity Partnership Limited of Hong Kong, the clubhouse is being built to blend into the rugged Central Coast landscape, maximize natural light and promote a sense of feng shui.
Proof is in the innovative blueprints, which call for floor-to-ceiling windows, large balconies with overhangs, and an expansive roof deck with vistas of the course and East Sea. It is expected to open shortly after the course’s 18-hole grand opening.
ABOUT INDOCHINA CAPITAL AND INDOCHINA LAND
Founded in 1999, Indochina Capital is one of Vietnam’s leading financial services firms with diversified fund management and financial advisory businesses. Indochina Capital manages US$1.8 billion in three funds and numerous special accounts, including two real estate funds and Indochina Capital Vietnam Holdings, which in March 2007 became the first Vietnam-related company to list on a major global stock market, the London Stock Exchange main board. Indochina Capital also owns a controlling interest in and manages Mekong Securities, a leading Vietnamese broker/dealer and investment bank.
Indochina Land is the real estate division of Indochina Capital. The division manages two real estate funds capitalized initially at just over US$300 million facilitating investment in over US$1 billion in property projects. To date, Indochina Land’s portfolio includes 12 properties in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and the Central Coast, covering the full range of property types, including residential, retail, office, resort, hotel and other leisure and industrial developments. Ocean Dunes, Dalat Palace and The Montgomerie Links Vietnam are among the golf clubs in that portfolio. Prior to the establishment of the two real estate funds, over the past 15 years, Indochina Land and its principals had developed, financed and invested in well-over US$1 billion in real estate projects in Vietnam.
Contact: Scott Resch
Mandarin Media
(+84) 093.848.1821
sresch@mandarinmedia.net
